UCD research on exercise in pregnancy involved in €7m funding investment
18 March 2025
A UCD-led project investigating the effects of exercise during pregnancy on fetal development has been funded under the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme.
The partnership between the US, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland increases collaborations among researchers and industry across the three jurisdictions.
A joint funding investment of over €7 million was announced today through the programme.
Four awards have been funded across 10 collaborating higher education institutions. The projects include research on communications networks and healthcare.
UCD’s project, led by (opens in a new window)Professor Niamh Nowlan from the (opens in a new window)UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, will focus on fetal akinesia – insufficient movement of the fetus – and its negative effects on bone and joint development.
It will investigate whether exercise during pregnancy could serve as a therapeutic intervention for fetal akinesia.
UCD will partner with Ulster University and the University of Pennsylvania on the project.
Since its launch in 2006, the US-Ireland R&D Partnership has funded 98 partnership projects with a combined government investment of €158 million.
The funding agencies involved in today’s announcement are Research Ireland and the Health Research Board in the Republic of Ireland, the Department for the Economy and the Health and Social Care R&D Division in Northern Ireland, and the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health in the US.
The collaborating institutions are South East Technological University; Teagasc; University College Dublin; University College Cork; Queen’s University Belfast; Ulster University; Virginia Tech, University of California Los Angeles; University of Pennsylvania and Rochester Institute of Technology.
“Research Ireland congratulates the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme award recipients – their innovative projects in the areas of healthcare and telecommunications will provide mutual benefit to societies and economies across all three jurisdictions,” said Celine Fitzgerald, Interim CEO of Research Ireland.
“Strong international research partnerships are vital to address the global challenges of our time. Through this significant tripartite investment, the US-Ireland R&D Partnership continues to support and encourage world-class, impactful and collaborative research projects between our countries.”
By: Rebecca Hastings, Digital Journalist, UCD University Relations
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
